Definition
Evolutionary theory predicts that when all else is equal, individuals will help their closely related relatives more than their distantly related relatives.
Introduction
Humans are prosocial species and typically provide help to one another. The term help can be defined as active and voluntary acts, including the transfer of any resources (e.g., time, money, material) from one individual to another. In evolutionary studies, contact and emotional closeness are often used as proxies for help because they tend to strongly correlate with several forms of support. According to kin selection theory, with all other things being equal, the likelihood of providing help should correspond to the degree with which individuals are related to each other and individuals are predicted to provide more help to their closely related kin than their distantly related kin (Hamilton 1964).
Empirical Evidence
On...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Burnstein, E. (2005). Altruism and genetic relatedness. In D. M. Buss (Ed.), The handbook of evolutionary psychology (pp. 528–551). Hoboken: Wiley.
Hamilton, W. D. (1964). The genetical evolution of social behaviour I & II. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 7, 1–52.
Madsen, E. A., Tunney, R. J., Fieldman, G., Plotkin, H. C., Dunbar, R. I. M., Richardson, J.-M., & McFarland, D. (2007). Kinship and altruism: A cross-cultural experimental study. British Journal of Psychology, 98, 339–359.
Pollet, T. V., & Hoben, A. D. (2011). An evolutionary perspective on siblings: Rivals and resources. In C. A. Salmon & T. K. Shackelford (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of evolutionary family psychology (pp. 128–148). Oxford: University Press.
Salmon, C. A., & Shackelford, T. K. (2011). Toward an evolutionary psychology of the family. In C. A. Salmon & T. K. Shackelford (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of evolutionary family psychology (pp. 3–11). Oxford: University Press.
Segal, N. L., & Hershberger, S. L. (1999). Cooperation and competition between twins: Findings from a Prisoner’s dilemma game. Evolution and Human Behavior, 20, 29–51.
Segal, N. L., & Marelich, W. D. (2011). Social closeness and gift giving by twin parents toward nieces and nephews: An update. Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 101–105.
Tanskanen, A. O., & Danielsbacka, M. (2014). Genetic relatedness predicts contact frequencies with siblings, nieces and nephews: Results from the generational transmissions in Finland surveys. Personality and Individual Differences, 55, 5–11.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Hämäläinen, H., Tanskanen, A.O., Danielsbacka, M. (2017). Helping More Likely with Close Kin than More Distant Kin. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1545-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1545-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences